November 2021

 This month has certainly been one for the books! We headed into the month with Halloween ending and parent-teacher conferences. It was wonderful to "see" everyone for our virtual meetings. Who would have predicted that those meetings would precede the need to quarantine most of our students for the next week? It was very interesting to have so many at home while the four of us continued to be in-person. Those students were so flexible during this unpredictable time. They even joined Mrs. Hastings' classroom one Friday, as I was needed to substitute in a second-grade classroom. That was a first for me in my fourteen-year career as an educator. 

Last week was the first week in November where all of my students had returned and we could pick up where we left off almost two weeks prior. It was such a wonderful feeling to be back together and back into our learning routine. Students were able to cash in their tokens, earning us a celebration on Wednesday. We ventured out to the woods and cooked hot dogs and stick bread by the fire. While it was chillier than we had hoped, our hearts were warm. We had a great time together. I hope your child came home smelling of campfire and told you stories of their afternoon. 

By the end of the week, we finished up our first module with the district's new EL Curriculum, which focused on learning around the world. Students were able to take home their student notebooks for this module. There was a lot of work put into those notebooks and I would encourage families to take a moment with their children to look through all of their writing and hard work. We are now moving on to our next module which is all about FROGS! Get ready to learn more about frogs than you ever thought possible 😊

As we move into Thanksgiving week, I want to take a moment to thank each of you for your continued support this year. Working with such a committed group of parents is a wonderful thing and something I do not take for granted. I appreciate everyone who checks in, offers extra snacks for kiddos, time in the forest, and communicates regularly about your children. Thank you!

Here are some pictures from the month! 

We completed our ginger bread house for the annual festival. 

Stick bread was a success!

Some rockstars were able to share their stance against bullying while many had to stay home. 

Our Indonesia expert group

They did a great job!

So proud of these kiddos!

Confidently presenting their information in front of their peers. 

Almost a month ago, we were able to participate in Bike Week. Thanks to Mrs. Farwell for making this a success!

Week of October 18, 2021

    Last week students spent a lot of time learning about various countries around the world and challenges some people face when learning and accessing books within those countries. Students will continue to learn more about their countries in hopes of presenting their findings to their peers. In math, we continued our new unit on multiplication. Students are seeing multiplication as repeated addition. We are using skip counting and number lines to show our understanding of this mathematical operation. Students are building arrays to show multiplication in an area model. 

    On Tuesday afternoon, the Hartford Tree Board joined us at DBS to plant two new maple trees. These trees are a part of a grant I wrote last year in order to purchase new tree tapping and sugaring supplies so DBS could continue to make our own maple syrup each spring. I'm so grateful for this tradition to continue for years to come. 

    This year has felt like we have been working really hard all of the time. On Friday, we took a moment to reconnect with the forest and slow down our pace a little bit. It was exactly what everyone needed. We started our morning with a fire and time in our hammocks. Students spent time writing within their hammocks and writing poetry. In the afternoon, we spent time in the field and were gifted with sighting a special visitor, a blue heron! It was such a beautiful ending to our day. 

Here are some pictures from the week:

Unclogging the bridge which was full of leaves

Learning about our new trees

Clearing the dirt of any extra rocks

Each student added new soil to the trees

Building quadrilaterals with geoboards

Such a great way to spend our day!

Can you see the Blue Heron?

Blurry picture, but if you look carefully you can see the heron at the top of the hill.

Week of October 11, 2021

 This week students have taken a closer look at children's access to books, libraries, and education around the world. Students were broken up into Expert Groups. Moving forward, each group will take a closer look into a country, identify the challenges they face, and how they overcome those challenges in order to learn. I would encourage you to check in with your child frequently about their topic and new information they are learning each day. 

Here are some pictures from the week: